


Searching For The Moon

by The_Lich_Queen



Series: tales of the unexpected [20]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Other, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:35:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24273679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Lich_Queen/pseuds/The_Lich_Queen
Summary: Sans is in love with Papyrus however, with this being the last reset and already knowing how the story will end- Sans decides to leave his life and start anew.
Relationships: Papyrus/Sans (Undertale)
Series: tales of the unexpected [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1749436
Comments: 6
Kudos: 36





	1. The Run

Comic Sans shifts forcefully against the humans aboveground. This was as far as he wants to be. Away from his brother. Away from other monsters. Away from the... child.

The packed train rocks gently along, the humans around him silently going about their day, never knowing the skeleton in their midst.

It took him a lot of effort to move, he was slightly smaller than the male adult humans, probably about the common height of the females.

Quickly he checks his magic; like he had done thousands of times in the last five minutes. But he needs to see if his disguise was still in place.

All those around him would see was a fellow male human.

Sans adjusts his backpack, which was a sub-space containing his whole lab and otherworldly objects.

The train squeak to a halt, he pushes through along with others. He reaches the station’s platform, then moves with the flow of bodies. He glances at the town, one he had never been to before, even after so many resets.

With the child now unable to reset, Sans knew he would not stay. Since this was it. This was the final. This was the end.

And he seen the outcome many times, seen the one he loved, the one he wanted to spend his life with, become other’s mate.

Sans needed to leave. Needed to restart his life from the ground up.

Walking up a garden path, he comes to stand in front of an old cottage.

Grinning like mad, he grabs some keys from within his pocket. Gold went for a lot of money on the surface, a lot of money and without ‘being’ a monster, the normal blocks that once stopped him were not there.

Dropping his backpack to the dusty floor, gazing around at the low ceiling space. Then falling to his knees he opens one of the backpack’s side departments, pulling out a large amount of paperwork that should never be able to fit.

Sans stares down at his documents, the paper trail that makes him a real boy: his new name was Ness Asterisk. Age twenty-two. Fresh out university.

Nodding his head at the details, he places his ID, passport, and driver's license, along with other stuff down on the windowsill, then sat down himself, staring out at the darkening skies.

He had many times to research, knowing where to go, who to talk to and what strings that need pulling. Within four weeks he had gotten everything together to begin his new life as a human.

Sans had travelled to the other side of the mountain, the side further from the sea. It was a long trip, with many other forms of transport he had to switch between but well worth it.

Sighing loudly and leaning back, Sans closes his eyes for a little nap.


	2. Clean Get Away

Sans did not have any idea how much he would be able to do, he was lazy by nature always letting Papyrus do the housework, while he ‘worked’ all around the underground.

That time was over. He was all alone and far out of reach from his brother and friends.

The old cottage was in much need of a cleaning, but he stood in the living room, at a loss of where to start.

The skeleton gazes about, he was a little outside of town so there was no need to worry if a human would suddenly turn up. They had to know that someone was living there to even think to walk down the path that leads to his new place.

Placing a boney hand of his skull, moaning lightly at the task ahead.

”*come on sans.” Sans spoke aloud, in hopes it would push him, “its not rocket science.” Dropping his hand, it flops to his side, he glances at the room once more, “actually rocket science would be far easier than this... what’s more, it would totally rock.”

Grinning at his lame joke, he moves forwards bending to grab the cleaning supplies he bought. He pauses. Nope still the same, he did not know where or how to start.

An image of himself cleaning the labs, appear in his mind’s eye. That was a lifetime ago. No that was many many lifetimes ago.

Letting go of the bucket’s handle, he straightens himself. Then digging into his pocket, he pulls out his new phone. The old one he left behind, deep in the pocket of his blue jacket, surrounded by...he lets his thoughts trail off, not wanting to think about what was happening back at the monster’s camp and future town.

The tapping on the screen, he began looking up ways of washing, cleaning and tidying up an old cottage. Lowing himself down, he sits cross-legged on the floor, glad that the place came with a carpet, even if it had seen better days.

Sans read through the articles carefully, he could not go back anymore and redo his mistakes whenever the child reset, or though he wished he thought of this when he was in the planning stages.

His mind drifts towards his brother and... family again, his soul aches for them. However this was the only way, he did not want anything to do with the child, nor did he want to be around his brother when he at last bonds.

Not when he loved Papyrus so much that it hurt inside.

Sans wants to live, but living next to his brother loving another would cause him to Fall.

In the past it was nothing to think twice about, brothers becoming mates, at least for skeletons; it depended on the kind.

Rabbit monsters too went with their siblings, even their own offspring, but going with the same gender was taboo. Fish monsters never breed with family, they only paired with the same gender, switching their sex when wanting to start a family. Lizard monsters did not breed within their family, nor did they couple with the same gender, nor was it allowed to go with another kind all together; lizard had to be with a lizard.

But out years of human entertainment falling into the underground had changed their way of thinking; Their old ways are forgotten with each passing generation.

Sans’s grin twists yet barely move downwards, his jaws were frozen, damming with this eternal smile even when his heart broke.

”*its fine sa- ...Ness..” Sans tells himself softly, his eyes with the screen, the words blurring towards as tears fill his sockets, “new life. new start. just me and the stars.”

Another reason he chose this place. It was a hotspot for stargazing. The town was built onside, close to the top, of the mountain. It was also the highest peak of Mt Ebott.

Sighing sans glancing towards the window, it was midday, hours before he could see his beloved stars.


	3. Three Year Time Skip...

A young black haired blue eyed male human hurried through an overgrown garden, he promises himself every year he would chop it back, but he was so focused working on the cottage and his work, that it never got done.

It did hide his little home is a wild mini forest, which he loved, even if the thorns had wandered onto the main path, catching his loose trousers at times.

Coming to the door, he glances around, before opening the door and going inside. Last year his ‘friend’ tried to surprise him for a night out clubbing at his doorstep. After that he never shortcutted home, now walking everywhere only taking a shortcut if a truly needed; thankfully he the garden had saved his skin.

Comic Sans or now known as Ness, settles down on his comfortable sofa, dumping his takeout on his coffee table and turning his tv on as he did; it has been three years since the monsters had been freed, three years since he started his new life in this old town.

The town’s people, however, had become indecent towards the monsters, because human governments had given the whole mountain and its surrounding land to monsterkind: their town so far up the mountainside now fell into the monster territory.

Sans releases his hold he had around his body, tanned magic flesh gave way to white bone. No monsters had come claiming the town nor the land around as their own.

... just yet.

That could change. Large plots of land were being equal out among the monsters as an inheritance, which causes a big issue for Sans.

His magical scent was everywhere in the town, the trails and the mountaintops. While these went unnoticed in the underground, his spots for his shortcuts might now act as a small beacon of light.

But no monster had come, while they were being given land plots, none left the safety of New New Home. It could be years before a monster came and it might just be some offspring who knew not of him.

So so he might not have to do a moonlight run just yet. Just encase, he had his lab set up to instantly fold into a sub-space.

Sans sighs out, with a sad smile he turns the channel over to the monster news. It was being covered by Mettaton, which came to no surprise to the small skeleton.

Eye light suddenly vanishes, his expression going completely blank. There was some human tucked up against the robot with one arm wrapped around his centre, and the former ghost has his arm around their shoulder.

That was Papyrus’s place.

He saw his beloved brother stand there so many timelines.

“*what the hell...” Sans hisses out after some time of watching, he carefully studied the interaction between the robot and the human. They stared at each other so lovingly that he causes Sans to grit his teeth.

The skeleton was fuming mad, his magic boiling within his soul.

“*where is papyrus?” Sans asks no one, he remembers, he remembers taking Mettaton to one side and had the robot vow to look after his brother, they had already shown the telltale signs of them ending up together, so what cha-

Sans blinks.

The camera had switched over to another, and there stood his brother, wearing his blue jacket, trying hard to give a true smile but failing.

“*i change it...” Sans mumbles, he brings up a hand and runs a hand over his skull and covers his eye sockets, “me not being there. me ‘dying’ .. and there’s no going back....”

Closing his eye sockets shut, he moans and this oversight, he should have waited until they were together fully before running off. Dropping his hand, he opened his eyes, staring at the tall skeleton on screen, standing next to Undyne while she spoke about something.

That where he sees it. A faint orange glow was blinking through the short vest Papyrus wore under his jacket.

Sans knew what that glow meant.

Papyrus was calling out for a mate.

”*oh bro.” Sans said sadly, tear swell up in his eye sockets as he leans forward standing intently now, “i’m so sorry. you must be so bonely ... heh ... only other skeletons are gonna notice that.”

Sans continues to sit there, watching through a screen, unable to even comfort his brother. For the first time in a long time, he was at a loss as to what to do.


	4. One Giant Leap

Ness blinks his blue eyes, then rolling over in the unfamiliar bed he sat up; it was morning. And he was in a forest, in a log cabin hotel, near New New Home.

It was the first time he slept in his ‘skin’ which left him feeling heavy. He had not wanted anyone to feel him, encase monsters were about; his skin did more than just make him appear human, it made him ‘feel’ like one too, all the while sealing and limiting his magic.

Staring at the window, he smiles; it was pouring down with rain. The sound alone was nice, but heavy rain also stopped him from leaving, taking the decision out of his hand.

Kicking the covers lightly, he removes them from his person, then swinging his legs around he puts his ‘bare’ feet on the fluffy sheepskin rug. Standing he makes his way over to the window, where he opens it.

The roaring of the rain intensified, he leans against the window frame and closes his eyelids.

To any onlookers, he would seem to have a serene expression on his features. However, below the surface, he was shouting at himself.

Last week he had been a mindless zombie, all thoughts on Papyrus.

He did not want to eat, sleep or work properly. But dragged himself to his job anyway. None of his workmates knew how to handle this sudden change, nor know why it was happening. Ness seemed fine before, everything was going well for him.

Ness’ Boss took him to one side and mentioned that perhaps he needs a break.

Ness numbly agreed.

And he said he would take two weeks off. Only to spend the week not knowing what to do with himself.

Then in a moment of madness, Sans opened his menu, finding his shortcuts he checked if the ones back in the underground and where the monster camp had been, was still there.

How his shortcut worked was, he had to tear open a void in time and space, fuse his magic there. The more he used that tear the stronger they became, to the point where ones in his former home would never close. But use that tear only once or twice it could fade heal itself.

All his opening appear on a special page in his menu, it was a black and green giant map that got bigger the more of the world he explored; his shortcuts appear as blue dots, all connected with lighter blue lines. These lines would glow brighter the more he used to go back and fore between two dots.

Giant leaps cost more magic then going back and fore two closer ones, so Sans used to leap over one to another, rather than taking a big one.

On zooming into his former home, Sans had seen that some were still open. The one next to the main opening to the underground was the strongest one on the surface.

So searching for a place to stay and on finding something, he quickly packed his own sub-space rather than the larger bag; then took a shortcut. It was the biggest leap he had ever taken, going many miles across a mountain.

Sans had fell face first on the other side. Then his highly intelligent mind snapped out of it and the number of errors dawned on him.

One, he was out of his skin. Two, it was in his boxers and vest he normally wore as PJs. Three, he was close to other monsters, some that might know his magical scent.  
Four...

  
what was he meant to do now? Everyone thought him dust, not like he could walk up to his brother, give him a hug and tell him where is plenty more fish in the sea.

At the time, his one saving grace was that he always tore his shortcut openings out of sight of others, so he was well hidden.

Soon Ness was fully ‘skinned’, dressed and was taking the newly installed Aerial lift down the mountain.

It had been crowded.

With the celebrations happening in and around monster territory, it was not hard to see why.

It had taken him half a day to get to the log cabin, much longer then it should have. On arrival, he booked in and went straight to bed.

On opening his eyes Ness glances the direction he knew Papyrus lived, his left blue slightly flickering between an unworldly blue and yellow.

“*hello bro,” Ness whispers softly, his fake lips never moving, “how are ya? heh... do you ... remember me?”

Ness sighs, he watches as the rain slowly eases up. He wishes not for the first time in his life, that someone would rewind time, back to when everything was great. Before the child fell, before the core accident, before he knew how much his brother meant to him.

“*someone save me.” Ness said pushing himself off the wall and spinning round to face the room. “okay. game plan. just see if papyrus is safe, healthy and. ..happy. ... well. then that’s it. job done. go home.”

Ness frowns, he knew this was not the case. He really did not know what to do, he spent the last three years thinking Papyrus was happy with Mettaton, thus forcing himself to get on with his own life.

Alone...

Sure he was doing something he loved, working as a tour guide up the mountain for stargazers and giving lectures on stars and the universe. But always in the back of his mind was his beloved brother.

It had hurt, cutting himself off from his brother, to the point where he almost Fell at one point, but he stood firm. Determined to live. To live the rest of his life under the stars on the mountain.

Now all his choices seemed for nothing if Papyrus was okay on the other end. He should have check... somehow. Papyrus should have always come first.

It left an awful pit in his soul.

Sans pulls the last of his clothes on, a dark blue hooded jumper with loose black jogging trousers. Black sandals on, he walks out the door, ready to face the world.

He still had no idea what he was going to do.


End file.
